Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the flour and cook without browning.
Stir in the water.
Finish the dressing
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl.
Mix in the sugar, mustard, and vinegar with the egg yolks.
Combine the egg mixture with the saucepan contents and stir well.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor into the dressing.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid as it cooks with the butter and water.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing and help bind it into a smooth, creamy texture.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the dressing's tang.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with a mild sweetness.
The step that matters
Combine the egg mixture with the saucepan contents and stir well.. Egg yolks scramble when they meet heat too quickly. Stirring constantly while combining them with the warm mixture helps them blend in evenly and thicken smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, sugar, vinegar):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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